Anti-Gun Violence Initiatives

New York State has a multifaceted strategy to help local law enforcement – police departments, sheriffs’ offices, district attorneys’ offices and probation departments – reduce, solve and prevent violent and gun crime.

Administered by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), the Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative provides funding, focused training and technical assistance to 28 police departments and their law enforcement partners in 21 counties so they can more effectively reduce, solve and prevent shootings and firearm-related homicides.

GIVE focuses on four core elements to address shootings and gun violence:

• People – The strategy must focus preventative and enforcement efforts on top offenders who have been identified as being responsible for most shootings and homicides or firearm-related violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault).
• Places – The strategy must focus preventative and enforcement efforts on the geographic locations (hot spots) where crime data and analysis demonstrate that most shootings and homicides or aggravated assaults occur.
• Alignment – The strategy must describe how partners will coordinate and align all existing resources in the community in an effort to reduce shootings and homicides or aggravated assaults where applicable.
• Engagement – The strategy must clearly articulate how organized outreach to key stakeholders and the community at large will occur; how the stakeholders and community will be given a voice; and how coordination will occur in a transparent manner that fosters wide-ranging support for violence reduction efforts.

The initiative targets the following counties: Albany, Broome, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Dutchess, Erie, Jefferson, Monroe, Nassau, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Orange, Rensselaer, Rockland, Schenectady, Suffolk, Tompkins, Ulster, and Westchester. 

Agencies participating in GIVE must use Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) as the framework for developing their comprehensive GIVE plan, incorporate procedural justice into all elements of the plan, and implement more than one of the following evidence-based strategies: hot-spots policing; focused deterrence; street outreach; and Crime Prevention through Environmental Design.

The SNUG Street Outreach program uses a public health approach to address gun violence by identifying the source, interrupting the transmission, and treating individuals, families and communities affected by the violence. The Division of Criminal Justice Services funds and supports SNUG programs in 14 communities: Albany, the Bronx, Buffalo, Hempstead, Mt. Vernon, Newburgh, Niagara Falls, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Syracuse, Troy, Utica, Wyandanch, and Yonkers.

SNUG programs employ outreach workers, social workers, case managers and hospital responders who work in neighborhoods experiencing elevated levels of gun violence in those communities. The program also embeds social workers at trauma centers in Albany, Rochester and Syracuse who work with individual and families in the aftermath of a violent incident to offer support, services and connect them to the SNUG program in their communities for additional assistance.

Street outreach workers are credible messengers because they live in the communities in which they work, and some have been involved with the criminal justice system or lost loved ones to violence. They work with teens and young adults to detect and defuse disputes before they escalate; respond to shootings to prevent retaliation through mediation and assist family members of those who have been injured or killed; and mentor youth involved with the program to set goals and connect them with educational and job opportunities as well as other services.

Social workers and case managers provide those affected by gun violence or other crimes in the communities with trauma-informed counseling, support groups, advocacy and assistance with filing victim compensation applications with the state Office of Victim Services, and referrals for other services as needed; and offer support and guidance to SNUG team members.

DCJS partners with local law enforcement agencies across the state to support a network of Crime Analysis Centers that provide investigative support and information to help police and prosecutors more effectively solve, reduce and prevent crime.

The centers are located in Albany, Broome, Franklin, Monroe, New York City, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Orange, Niagara and Suffolk counties and provide critical support to law enforcement agencies more than half of the state’s 62 counties. 

Centers also assist any law enforcement agency in the state upon request.

The state Office of Victim Services (OVS) funds more than 200 programs statewide that provide direct services to victims of crime and their families: therapy, support groups, case management, emergency shelter, civil legal assistance, accompaniment to court, and transportation, among other assistance.

The agency also provides financial assistance to individuals and families who have expenses related to the crime but have no resources, or have exhausted their resources, to pay for those expenses. New York is the only state that has no cap on expenses for medical or mental health expenses if an individual is deemed eligible. This has resulted in individuals receiving help throughout their lifetime.